In todays lesson we started to look at what fonts fit best into magazine columns and what sizes they would need to be, we used the Adobe Programme Indesign to do this and also went through some tutorials to learn how to use the programme correctly.

I have been given a brief for a new project! This project will be to design new packaging for 330ml Kumbucha bottles. I must create two completely different designs one being an adhesive label and the other a full bottle shrink sleeve. Along side the bottle designs I will be creating a box packaging of some sort for the chosen bottle to go in. This for me is quite an exciting project because I’ve never designed packaging before so it will definitely be something new for me! Firstly we were given some websites to check out and get some ideas from they were;

– notcot.org

-thedieline.com

I found them very useful! Some of the ideas they used sparked new ones for me! Heres some examples I found which I liked, some don’t link to my brief I just really liked them and had to keep a note of the ideas which are used and others link entirely to my project. Firstly I started to look at the actual packaging of the bottles to get my ideas flowing and these are the designs which I found most appealing to me;

These examples here can be found on this link; http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2012/8/7/rivet-sway.html. The packaging is designed for glasses but I found this packaging brilliant! Each box the glasses are placed in have round circles in so you can see part of the frames, I thought this idea would work well if I could incorporate this in my bottle packaging design. I could have a section cut out showing the logo so this would stand out or even a cut out section near the top like the glasses to show the neck of the bottle. If I was to take this idea further I need to create my net and try to make sure that cutting parts away will not make the packaging less protective for the bottle so this will need experimenting with and the material I use will need to be considered.

The packaging for these glasses just seems so lovely! If I was to receive this in the post it would definitely make me smile because in my opinion the designs seem so individual and simplistic because they aren’t covered in type, advertising or even bright colours making it stand out. They look very modern with a simple line of type and a section of design around the circle which has been cut out which is very elegant in its design. The bigger packaging box which carries the 3 smaller ones continues with the colours and simplicity, its such a great design (Although I have to say the way the main box opens reminds me of a pizza box) but I still love it! In my brief it doesn’t state how many bottles the packaging needs to carry so this idea for me is one I am definitely going to be considering! I just love the feel about this packaging even to the point where they have a section on the inside lid with fantastic type on which says “Focus on what you want and you’ll see evidence of it everywhere” it’s these little parts of the design that make it all come together and feel so individual for the person receiving the glasses. I’ve taken so much from these design ideas it makes me want to start my packaging now and get designing! =)

This example can be found on this link; http://thehypecollective.wordpress.com/2012/06/26/paper-passion-perfume-com-essencia-de-livro/. This packaging here is actually for perfume but the principle idea is brilliant! The idea of making the packaging look like a book yet having a 330ml in the middle cut out in a very similar to the perfume bottle appeals to me because its DIFFERENT. I like designs that are different and out of the usual stereo typical designs because to me its how well designed they are that make them stand and I think wow. When you go to buy new perfume for example I tend to find myself immediately trying out the ones that have clever designs that aren’t jut shaped as a plain-looking bottle and I would to incorporate this idea into my work. When looking for drinks down an isle in Tesco for example there are so many different ones and unless you are an expert its hard to know which drinks actually tastes the best. The packaging HAS to stand out in an environment like this and HAS to be different if not it will just blend in with everything else!

This idea I would like to consider and bring into the design with my own touch and try to make the design slightly more detailed and bring in maybe a pattern and change the colours. The Kumbucha bottles I will be designing originate from China and in my brief it states “The company wants to retain some visual links to its Chinese origins within the design, but is keen to visually compete ‘on-shelf.’ This means that they want to move away from the traditional cultural styles and the expected ‘organic’ motifs and embrace a much more modern/futuristic design interpretation that will have a strong presence at the point of sale.” Earlier on I stated I didn’t like the usual stereo typical designs on packaging and this links directly to my ideas and thoughts on my designs. I don’t want my designs to be stereo typically chinese by covering it in calligraphy and chinese dragons or even using the stereo typical colours such as red, black and gold. I would like a delicate design which has subtle links to its origins but on the hand is moving with the times and quite modern. It’s hard to find links that aren’t obvious and stereo typical, I shall be doing some research into the Chinese area to help me with my ideas.

This example can be found on this link; http://www.nardini.it/. This particular packaging stood out for me because I find the idea very elegant, it’s clean-looking and very easy to use but also looks secure. I would imagine where the bottle sits is a section that is cut out which then allows the bottle to stay fixed in one position instead of rolling around, which is a lovely simple idea and not over complicated. This would mean if I was to create this packaging I would need to make an inner section to the box to slot in, this could be done easily once the measurements of the bottle had been taken. This packaging in my opinion really works well with the bottle, they’ve kept their colour scheme to a few colours which is very sophisticated in its appearance. The colours work very well together white, gold, black and with a touch of silver on the neck of the bottle. The design on the bottle is also mirrored on the inside of the packaging in the same gold but black writing and information about the drink is in the middle again in black. The design is very consistent and this is something that has stood out for me when looking at this bottle and packaging. The colour scheme in my opinion is beautiful and this includes the colour of the liquid it all complements the bottle and packaging lovely! I have taken a lot from this design and really want my own design flow like this, I want my packaging and bottle to be very similar and link well just like this one does.

This example can be found on this link; http://www.notcot.com/archives/2011/06/bruichladdich-organic-2003.php. This design isn’t one of my favourites but the reason I have picked it is because I like the simple design on the packaging and bottle, they flow well together and again its the continuity that wins for me. I like the bronze coloured design its very free-flowing but in my opinion the text is too much I would like to see more of the design and I will avoid creating something like this. The alignments on the text is spot on I have to say! As I have said before alignment to me is a big thing and with the text on my design I would like to see mine all aligned correctly such as this example.

These examples can be found on this link; http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2012/9/12/black-elk-gold-elk.html. I absolutely love these designs! There very sleek and modern and have definitely given me the idea for perhaps the shrink-wrap that I would like the background black. I prefer the design on the right because it’s all black with just the gold writing over the top which I think looks sophisticated because the design is simple and not crowded in any way. If I was going to use black as my background colour I would definitely avoiding using gold or bright red, I have said before these stereo typical colours people associate with chinese designs such as takeaways and restaurants.

These examples can be found on this link; http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2012/8/14/golan-brewerry.html. This packaging design is just simply incredible! This is definitely something I look at and think wow I wish I had of created this! Cutting the shape of the logo out of the packaging is such a simple idea but works for me very well. I’m not keen on the actually packaging design with the shape of the bottle being printed on it I would prefer to see more design work but this was the idea to have the bottle design on the packaging so for them it works well. I have previously shown packaging with a circle cut out which was the glasses packaging, these two examples link together well and I definitely would like to incorporate this into my own design. Depending on where my research takes me to the logo of my bottles will depend if I can use this idea but I would definitely like to think so!

These examples can be found on this link; http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2012/6/22/miller-boom-box.html. I’m not sure what I can say about this packaging…. WOW WOW WOW! I saw this and literally got so excited and wanted to own these boxes!! What an incredible idea I have to say! This doesn’t only look great but I bet the sales rocketed because you want three to complete the set so sales would be brilliant! The drinks are exactly the same in a plan box as they are in these but obviously they want you to buy more! If there was any way I could create something like this I would definitely take the opportunity, I will be doing some research into chinese art and ideas and hopefully from this I could get some ideas to create a set of packaging that creates one big representation of an object.

After finding some brilliant inspiration for packaging I moved forward to look at the design of the bottle. I used the same websites as before but found patterns and designs I could turn into my own, again some don’t relate to my brief I just absolutely loved the concept and other relate entirely to my brief.

These examples can be found on this link; http://timmsal.tumblr.com/post/27346101221/firefighter-vodka. This doesn’t relate to my brief but I just absolutely loved this design! It’s very ironic and brilliantly designed, the tagline is also very clever “use in case of party” where as on a normal fire extinguisher its “use in case of fire”. As vodka feels like burning your throat this is why its been designed as a fire extinguisher and I would imagine that this was aimed at the younger population because they would definitely buy it and keep the bottle after! This would definitely stand out on a shelf in a supermarket and I know my self that I would buy this bottle of vodka compared to plain normal bottle for a party!

This example can be found on this link; http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2012/4/20/zealand-all-blacks-rugby-team-present.html. I think these patterns are beautiful! Again they aren’t related to my brief exactly but I do feel that I want to somehow include these patterns. This particular box was made for a set of headphones and has nothing to do with bottle design or chinese tea, but for my Shrink-wrap I definitely feel a pattern similar to this would work well with the design using the whole of the bottle. I don’t think this design would work well though for the adhesive label I would much prefer to try it on my shrink-wrap. This pattern reminds me of wood carvings and I definitely want to have look into Chinese wood carvings to help me develop this idea and take it forward.

In our second lesson we started to look at making the nets for regular little boxes, we made these out of card and were given two nets to make ourselves. I remember the last time I made these little boxes were in secondary school and they were awful! Made from paper the glue went everywhere! These boxes on the other hand we were told to be as precise as possible because if your only 1mm out this can put the whole box out sync… as I found out! I started off with a little box first and tried to be careful and make sure I cut straight on the line but it definitely is harder than I first realised. The photos below show me cutting out the nets and the final result of them last;

As you can see my boxes went together which was one thing but they had slight gaps at the top where the lid comes down and also over bits of card which were over lapping at the bottom. Like I said previously if I was just 1mm out the whole box would end up being out of sync and this is exactly the floor in both boxes which was bound to happen as this is my first time. I was fairly happy with the outcome of my boxes as I hadn’t done this for years! There definitely is room for improvement in this area and I will keep practising! To create my final packaging box I need to be 110% correct in each cut because I don’t want this to be the downfall, I’m really going to try to make the design look perfect it would be a shame to think the cutting of the box will destroy all the hard work! Even if I have to cut the net out 100 times I’m determined to improve and won’t stop until its 100%! (why must I be such a perfectionist?)

I have a magazine project which I have currently been working on in my first 2 weeks, I have been looking at double page spreads and drawing in the lines as if they were guides. I found that it became quite repetitive and a pattern arose as you can see from the examples below;

This double page spread is from ‘More’ magazine, you can see on both pages they have 5 columns of equal sizes. When you initially look at a magazine as a reader you don’t see the importance of guides and how they help build the pages together, when you look at the pages through a designers eye this is when it comes to life. When I started drawing out my guides I didn’t quite see the pattern that was occurring, even though there are 5 columns on each page they haven’t used each column for text. You can see on the left page the photos take up 3 columns which over lap on the column in the center but on right page it is different. I’ve never took any notice of the way magazine pages are divided up and found this very interesting because these guides play such a major role in magazine design and I would imagine not many readers think twice about them! Although through previous experiences I notice when in my opinion something has an awful layout I never tend to comment when the layout works because when I buy a magazine I have expectations. Single pages and double page spreads like the example above have slightly more options to change the layout of the page where as below I have an example of a double page spread which is a Horoscopes page;

This example is again from the ‘More’ magazine but in my opinion has far more structure because it HAS to. As this needs to be readable and the different star signs need to flow correctly the structure is slightly different. There are only 3 columns on each page vertically but horizontally the sections are gridded up differently because each star sign is all aligned and in the same place on both sides. The columns vertically are keeping the text that matches the star sign all aligned and evenly together, by looking at this double page spread which in my opinion is very well structured makes me look straight through the content. I feel as if I’m looking at the magazine and ignoring what is written which I’ve never done before, looking at these guides and the way they are set out means they have different page templates so they can be flexible depending on the content.

This double page spread is from my mums cooking magazine ‘Easy cook’;

In our first lesson we had a look at Adobe InDesign and were given some basic tutorials on how to set up a magazine, I’ve made some print screens to show what I had learnt;

This print screen above is the preset settings when you go to start a new project. (will print screen what it should look like shortly) After all the settings have been changed the page will open like this;

You can see the guides in the purple and pink colours in the right screen on the left. We also learnt how to add pages which seemed really easy! The print screen on the left shows the pages and you simply drag the page down from A-Master and place the page where you want it.

Also in our first lesson we went through a really quick timeline of magazines and I took some notes in lesson and thought I would write them up on my blog! We started right back in the 1700’s when magazines were first published,

So I finally have a blog! After just starting my second year of my Graphic Design Diploma I’ve been set many projects and starting to feel very un-easy, apprehensive even. I’ve not really had a proper blog before and will try to keep it updated weekly the best I can with all my work for each project, I’m going to set myself time scales and a to do list each week so I can keep track of what needs doing and hopefully be organised and keep up to date! I’m excited about the majority of my projects this year and can’t wait to get properly started and dive in…. well here goes! Enjoy! =) x